Recruiting can get pretty cutthroat, and that goes for some of the top prospects in the country all the way down to the small college level.
For an edge, some coaches have been known to use some negative recruiting on occasion, sharing things like an opposing head coach having only a few years left before retirement, how bad facilities are somewhere else, or any host of other things.
According to some comments Kirby Smart made down at the SEC Spring meetings last week, that's the wrong approach, and he provided an interesting reasoning as to why.
“Negative recruiting, to me, never works on the kind of kids that you want in your program, because if they are listening to that and they buy into that, they are probably a little gullible," Smart said, according to Jake Rowe of 247.
"I would much rather be very honest and open because you attract better quality people who respect the fact that you respect the other people in your league.”
Head here to read more from Smart, including why he shares with recruits that Saban will likely outlive him.